BNZ jobs on the line, says union

First Union says 50 jobs are likely to be made redundant and replaced with part-time roles at BNZ as its Aussie parent bank cuts thousands of jobs.

“FIRST is aware of, and disappointed by, the projected 6000 redundancies being rolled out at NAB, BNZ’s parent bank in Australia. We have not seen the same scale of job losses in New Zealand. However, the union is very concerned by an ongoing wave of restructures currently taking place across BNZ,” said First Union’s Stephen Parry.

NZ’s actions were part of a worrying trend away from face-to-face banking towards online, telephone-based or automated services, Parry

BNZ and the other banks present these changes as an inevitable response to technology, when in reality it is a deliberate choice to put profit ahead of the interests of customers and workers. Stephen Parry, First Union

said. “BNZ and the other banks present these changes as an inevitable response to technology, when in reality it is a deliberate choice to put profit ahead of the interests of customers and workers,” he said.

A spokeswoman for BNZ said customers were increasingly choosing digital banking channels for everyday banking needs, with nine out of 10 transactions completed digitally. “Having the right people in the right place at the right time is important to BNZ and our customers and an example of this is recently in Balclutha where we have changed our store hours to more closely reflect when the community interacts with BNZ,” she said.

“Where possible we look to re-train or redeploy impacted staff.”